


The Other Side Of Paradise

by Haddi_Etana3



Category: Eldarya (Video Game)
Genre: (btw if u wanna make this sad imagine the boy she liked watching this frm the pantry lMAO), chrome is the leader in the erika protection squad, its after ep 13 and theyre goofin around and bein dorks, other side of paradise is a good song tho listen to it, this is just cute fluff i wrote at 12am, tldr they listen to earth music and talk about the lyrics in it and then goof around, will kill boys 10/10
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-02
Updated: 2017-08-02
Packaged: 2018-12-10 06:15:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,862
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11685765
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Haddi_Etana3/pseuds/Haddi_Etana3
Summary: Doing dishes is boring, but with enough music it can be a bit more fun than that.





	The Other Side Of Paradise

Kitchen duty was considered less of a mission and more of a punishment. You’ve got to clean not only dishes, but clean them to Karuto’s expectations, which meant a lot of scrubbing. And that night he had used his skillets, which were extra hard to clean.

Erika and Chrome were assigned, due to an accidental food fight. Since no one wanted to try and understand how a food fight could be accidental they were sent on a “mission” to scrape brussel sprouts from the bottom of a frying pan.

They were shown some mercy when Karuto needed to take stock of the pantry, which takes the old man years to finish. His high expectations included wiping down containers with a damp-  _ never wet _ \- rag, turning said containers so they faced forward, and measuring ingredients twice so he knew he measured right. It was a very sophisticated process, one that Erika and Chrome had no intentions of criticizing. At least, when he was around them.

And without him around, doing the dishes could get a bit more fun.

“Alright, so this is an iPod. And I finally got enough mana to buy a large battery for it.” Erika grinned as she looked at the screen.

Chrome turned to glance at where the pantry was and then back to Erika so he could sneak a look at the screen, too.

“What can it do? What are you doing right now?”

“Well, you can do all kinds of things, like texting- or, well, writing messages to people. And calling people so you can talk to them over it. Or using the internet, which I’ve always explained to you. Though, without a connection I can’t.

“But! That is not the main purpose of an iPod. You use it to play music.”

Chrome was nearly vibrating with excitement, watching with fascinated eyes. “I’ve heard some of your people’s music! A couple of years ago a kid’s dad got this music player and some disk for it. I can’t remember the lyrics, but it sounded like a clump of sounds.”

Erika laughed, “Yeah, some of it's like that… Ah! Here it goes- okay, this is seriously the best song that's ever existed. You ready?”

Chrome nodded eagerly and she pressed on a song. Erika put down her iPod and continued to wipe down wet dishes.

When it first started Erika couldn’t stop grinning and bobbing her head with the song.

“It sounds… Heavy. Like- I don’t know how to explain it-”

She cut him off “I know what you mean. That's called bass.”

“And there's a ‘hoo’ sound.”

Erika just nodded as the words started to be sang.

Chrome listened, fully intending to stay mostly quiet throughout it, but almost right away he didn’t quite get it. “Hold on, what’s a rock and roll star?” He asked, setting another dish down for her to wash.

She smiled, “Rock and roll is a type of music. And when you say star like that it means people who are well known, famous, and admired- kinda like how Huang Hua is treated. So, a rock and roll star is someone who's famous for rock and roll.”

He nodded, brow creasing as he listened some more. “Versace?”

Erika couldn’t help but laugh.

Chrome’s face turned red at her reaction, saying, “Sorry- I keep asking things.”

“No, no!” She reassured, pausing the music with a simple press to the screen, then continued with her work. “I like that you’re interested. It makes me happy.

“Versace is a brand. And a brand is like… uhhh…” She blew a raspberry as she came up with a comparison “Think about the Purriry. Her clothing is  _ her  _ brand. It's something that's made from a certain person or business. And some brands are more expensive than others because they're more famous; Versace is one of those brands.”

Chrome’s ears lowered, “Wait, so like, one brand can make the same thing as another and they won't make as much as the other one?”

Erika shrugged, “Yeah. All because they're more famous. Or made by famous people.”

“That’s so weird.”

She laughed again, “That’s capitalism for ya.”

“What’s capitalism?”

“Oh man, that’d take way too long to explain. I’ll tell you about it later.”

Erika started the song again, and the pair continued on like that. Every couple of words she would pause the song and repeat the lyrics to him, and in turn Chrome would always have a question about it. Some she could answer, others were more difficult to explain, and a few she had no idea how to word.

When the song ended Chrome looked absolutely lost as he scrubbed down a pot and Erika was putting away some of the plates.

“So what's the song about? Did someone leave the guy? He was saying bye in it.”

“I  _ think  _ that's what it's about. I always felt like it was about a guy’s boyfriend who left to become a star. Or, if you want to take the lyrics literally, he left to become a rock and roll star, but in all honesty that could be a figure of speech.”

“Wait, so rock and roll star can be both literal and figurative?”

“Mmhm,” Erika nodded, walking back to the sink, “When people refer to someone whose famous they call them a rockstar. So the guy he’s talking about could have done anything, but the point is that he got famous.”

“Alright… so what happened?”

“Well, after he became a rockstar he met a girl- the one who wore Versace-”

Chrome blanched, “So he cheated on his boyfriend?”

She shrugged, “Maybe. Or maybe they broke up before he left. Point is he became famous, got with another girl, and from there the song talks about how the singer speaks to the guy on the phone. He hears him talk about all the great, rich things he has in life, and as he listens his life ‘turns in slow motion’, realizing that he’s losing the person he once knew.”

The young teen scoffed, “How is he losing him? They’re talking on the phone to each other.”

“Well, you can still have someone around but lose them. In this case he's losing the one he loves to fame. In my world becoming popular is… tricky. Anyone who is very gorgeous or very rich or very lucky can get popular. And with the fame comes people who nearly worship you- again, like how some people see Huang Hua. She has people who will do anything for her.

“Now, imagine this man. He has a boyfriend he loves to death, and then his boyfriend gets really popular. His boyfriend gets lost in fame and the money that comes with it. He becomes greedy in a way, and becomes a completely different person than what the man once knew. That’s why he says bye bye baby blue. And, you know, sometimes fame can kill someone by showering them in bad influences, hence the line ‘caught up in a rush that's killing you’.”

Chrome nodded slowly, “Okay. I kinda get it. Is the ghost part talking about how he's lost the boyfriend he knew, but still has the physical body part of him? Like, the shell of the guy?”

Erika grinned, “Yep! Or, at least I’m pretty sure. And ya know, from there it talks about how the boyfriend had a kid, and eventually the girl leaves, but the man stays and continues to settle for the ghost after the boyfriend lost everything.”

Chrome snorted. He looked up at his friend with narrowed eyes. “That song is confusing.”

“Hey, that’s music for you. Poetry and stuff never was my strong suit either. But really it's not why I listen to it.”

“Then why do you?”

Erika smiled softly, and something in her face shifted. Chrome thought he said something wrong when she didn't say anything right away, but before he could correct any mistakes he made she spoke. 

And when she spoke it was like she was thinking about something else. “Because of the beat. It’s catchy. It’s got a rhythm to it that makes me want to dance again. The drops in the beat make me want to crumble into myself for a second for how moving it is.” She laughed again, rolling her eyes at her own words. “That makes no sense, sorry.”

“No! No, it does. I understand you.” Chrome was lying, but it’d been weeks since she had smiled so much, and he wasn’t about to discourage it. “Can you play it again, Erika? I wanna hear it fully.”

She raised a brow, surprised, “Really?”

“Yeah, really, play it again.”

“Okay!” It was her turn to vibrate in excitement. Something about showing other people things she liked just got her happy, and knowing Chrome was even a little bit in listening again made that feeling even better.

She subtly danced along, which was mostly a shift of the hips and thumping of her foot at first. But as she continued to sing along she swayed a bit more, started to nod her head along with the beats and drops.

The happiness was infectious and Chrome started to nod along, singing the bits he remembered and looking over every moment or so to watch her face.

Soon her eyes had closed and Erika put the cup she was drying down. When the music had no lyrics, just for a brief moment, she backed up and opened her eyes to look at Chrome, the smile bigger than ever.

“I once did a dance for this- I think I still remember it.”

She started slowly, as the song was rising for just a moment to the next chorus. She still mouthed along with the words as she body jerked and swayed with the music. Even though Chrome didn’t get it, he knew she was loving it. Right after the last drop of the last chorus was when she got intense with it, and the teen could recognize that she had danced this part before.

Eventually she invited him in, and tugged the younger boy into a less choreographed dance. He tried his best to copy what she was doing, but they both gave up on following the same rhythm as before. They danced silly for just a moment, and it was the most fun that either had in weeks.

The song ended, and the two got a good look at one another and how messy their hair was. It was then they couldn’t help but laugh at the moment together.

Erika swung an arm around Chrome’s shoulder and guided him back to the sink. “Alright, alright. Sadly, dancing will not get this done any faster.”

She dropped her arm and resumed drying while Chrome dipped his arms back in the water, a small smile still on his face.

“Hey, can we do another song? Like, listen to another and talk about the words?”

With great enthusiasm Erika said, “Hell yeah we can!”

She turned the screen back on and set the iPod on shuffle, starting from a long library of music. It would be enough to keep them occupied for weeks of dish duty.


End file.
